For the second time this year, and the second time of his career, Top Fuel driver TJ Zizzo has qualified in the No. 1 spot heading into race day. The fan favorite driver, who competes in a limited number of events each season, earned his second No. 1 at the race he considers to be his secondary home event, the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway. Zizzo posted his quickest run of 3.714 seconds at 327.66 mph during the second and final round of qualifying on Saturday, after Friday’s qualifying was completely rained out.
“It’s spectacular,” said Zizzo, driver of the Rust-Oleum Top Fuel dragster. “Our all-volunteer team, we compete out here because we love the sport of NHRA drag racing. We’ve come out here and qualified No. 1 twice now. First doing it at our home track of Chicago and now here. I know nobody is going to believe me, but we should have been No. 1 qualifier at the U.S. Nationals, too. We had a blower belt come off and we were far ahead of Brittany Force before that happened. We switched blower belts, went to a different manufacturer, and here we are No. 1 qualifier again.”
Earlier this season, Zizzo earned his first No. 1 qualifier at the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance. Then, a few weeks ago he nabbed his career-best qualifying effort at the U.S. Nationals, coming in at the No. 3 spot based off a 3.716 second, 332.67 mph run. The Midwest Nationals is the fourth and final event for Zizzo this season, and 2024 will already go down as his best season to date, regardless of what happens during race day tomorrow. Zizzo credits this improvement to significant changes that he and his dad, Tony Zizzo, made to their operation.
“It was this race three years ago that my dad chose to go a different route,” said Zizzo. “We were using a 1999 McKinney car, came here, and barely qualified. We knew we had the knowledge to go faster, we just couldn’t go any faster. We weren’t competing at the same level as everyone else. My dad and I made the choice to step up all our equipment. Then Don Schumacher got involved and said “yes, this is what we’re doing for you.” Now, when we stage our car, we have the same equipment as the person next to us. As far as the mindset of a driver, it puts way more pressure on me. That’s what a good race car does. I can’t go up there and lollygag anymore, I have to go up there and get after it.”
Zizzo qualified against a crowded field of 19 cars, attempting to make one of the top 16 quickest spots to advance to race day. He knew that despite the success that he has had this season, he could not let his guard down. When Friday was rained out, that put an added pressure on the two Saturday qualifying sessions. After the first round of qualifying, Zizzo was sitting in the No. 6 position. He knew this wasn’t bad,but knew that he and his team could do better.
“To come out here and do what we did today, off the trailer No. 6 qualifier – remember, we haven’t raced since Indy,” said Zizzo. “We’ve had some time off, but we worked hard to get to this point. When I looked at the entry list for this race, there were 18 good cars that deserved to qualify. The 16 of us who are qualified for the show, any one of us can win.”
Looking ahead to race day tomorrow, Zizzo knows each round of competition will not be an easy round win. He first made his debut at the Midwest Nationals in 2004, and he believes that every year since, the competition has gotten even tougher.
“It’s always important to go rounds,” said Zizzo. “Our goal is to win every time we leave our shop. Most teams say that. But here’s the deal. My dad and I have been chasing this deal to win a Wally for 44 years. All I want to do is present my dad with a Wally. The negative is, all our volunteer team members said that after we win a Wally, they’re all going to quit. That’s why they’re doing it, too. Maybe we haven’t won for that reason, I’m not sure, but I hope to hoist that Wally. I’m going to get good rest, I’m going to breathe, I’m going to eat well, I’m going to take care of myself and make sure that tomorrow presents itself as it should – with a win.”
Zizzo will face No. 16 qualifier Billy Torrence in the first round. He will be looking for his first round win against the veteran driver from Kilgore, Texas. Their previous two meetings occurred at the U.S. Nationals in 2015 and at the first Indy race of the 2020 Covid shortened season.
This story was originally published on September 29, 2024. 
